Primal Endurance Podcast

Host Brad Kearns welcomes back Primal Blueprint Publishing's own Lindsay Taylor, Ph.D. to discuss the controversy surrounding aerobic heart rate, how to compete in races when we've been training so slowly, and whether we should ever incorporate cross-over point workouts into our regimen.

What is the controversy about aerobic heart rate? What does aerobic threshold mean? [00:02:22]

What does it mean "cross-over point?" [00:08:32] 

How are we going to compete in races when we have been training so slowly? [00:22:02] 

So what about anaerobic training? [00:25:16] 

Should we never do cross-over point workouts? [00:29:42] 

When is it time to go hard?  What is the best thing to do? [00:30:12] 

How important is scheduling? [00:33:16] 

Summarizing: Fat max vs. crossover point [00:38:35] 

If the crossover point occurs at a higher heart rate it is good. [00:38:58] 

We are not recommending high intensity workouts every day. [00:39:12] 

Brad Kearns honors Tupac with a long serving of memorized rap lyrics and then talks about going keto. Maffetone suggests you restrict more carbs as you age, since we become more insulin resistant as we get older. Brad discusses his first effort at nutritional ketosis, which lasted only 3 weeks until he bombed out and had a week-long bout of fatigue. This was likely due to a prolonged fight or flight response making glucose to fuel energy since he was not fully fat- and keto-adapted, but had restricted carbs from historical patterns. Dr. D’Agostino says many people bomb out after three weeks because this is the toughest period to adapt, but the full benefits have not kicked in yet. Brad then relates how his second foray into keto, 126 days and counting at the time of recording, has been much more successful.

Host Brad Kearns goes back to the mailbag with some great Q&A submissions. Can I do strength training during the aerobic base building phase? What if my endurance goals are not competitive, but rather to have fun and get some thrills on a mountain bike (even if this means elevated heart rates?)? How do you reconcile the Primal Blueprint fitness approach of move frequently, lift heavy things, and sprint, with the Primal Endurance approach of periodization?

Brian asks how to tell if chronic cardio problems are due to diet or exercise? [00:00:28] 

If I go a long time without doing the strength work while I am training for high intensity, won't I lose some of my strength? [00:06:25] 

Can I train exclusively Maff plus strength training and count my races for anaerobic training? [00:16:03] 

Can you mix anaerobic with aerobic in the same session? [00:23:24] 

Are longer single aerobic sessions more effective than the same volume of multiple workouts in a week? [00:23:23] 

I've been using the Maff method of aerobic heart rate monitoring and was wondering when I should alter the "180 minus your age" as I get older. [00:25:32] 

From Blake: I want to balance health and fun in getting in as much mountain biking as possible which would mean I am going over my aerobic heart rate. What do you think? [00:27:26]

Brad Kearns warms up his voice with Tupac and then covers a topic that hasn’t been mentioned much - how to taper for a peak competitive event. Here’s what NOT to do: don’t training chronically for weeks on end and then crash on the couch for the final couple weeks before the event. Instead, pretend the race is a week earlier than actual and be chomping at the bit as the clock counts down. Maintain intensity, high blood volume, and an active lifestyle, but dramatically cut back on volume - you don’t need a 20-mile run two weeks before your marathon because it takes two weeks to recover from a 20-mile run! For diet, you best be eating optimally at all times instead of pondering some magic regimen to give you a competition boost. Finally, get over yourself and the importance of your event so you don’t waste mental energy stressing.